Hereswith took a deep breath before telling Lux that she was ready.
The Half-Elf nodded and activated Blackfire's ability to store souls to give his Grandmaster a second chance in life.
"Grandmaster, please have a good rest," Lux said. "I pray that the next time you open your eyes, you will be able to walk the world of Elysium once again."
"Thank you, Lux," Hereswith replied. "Try not to get yourself into big trouble, while I'm asleep."
Without another word, Hereswith closed her eyes, and her soul was sucked inside Blackfire before the lid of the coffin closed completely.
The Half-Elf patted the surfaces of the coffin before unsummoning his Divine Artifact. He believed that it would take a long while for his Grandmaster's soul to fully heal.
Lux didn't want to rush things. He wanted Hereswith's soul to fully recover, allowing the beautiful High-Elf to be reborn.
Now that his purpose for visiting the Ancestral Lands was dealt with, he left the World Tree and searched for his Grandma.
"All done?" Vera asked as soon as Lux landed beside her.
"Yes, Grandma," Lux replied. "It's time to go back to the Outer Reaches."
Vera nodded, and this time, she allowed Lux to teleport her back to their Guild Headquarters before anyone could realize that they were missing.
—————————
Meanwhile, at the border of the territory of the Crystal Palace…
"Halt!" a Dragon Born with red scales stood in Cethus' way as he was about to enter the gate. "You have some nerves. A Royal Guard from Karshvar Draconis dares to step into our Domain. Are you courting death, huh?"
Cethus frowned after looking at the opposite Dragon Born, who was at least a head taller than him. Truth be told, he could just have acted arrogant like he had always done to put the guard in his place.
However, after being around the two Half-Elves, Lux and Gerhart, the Dragon Born realized that arrogance without the strength to back it up wasn't arrogance but stupidity.
Because of this, he decided to handle the matter peacefully in order to de-escalate the situation!
"You lowly peasant, just who do you think you're talking to?" Cethus asked, raising his chin. "I am Lady Augustina's Grandson, Cethus. You plebeian dare to block my way? The one courting death is you. Are you tired of living?"
(E/N: Peacefully my *ss. This isn't arrogant?)
(A/N: This is how Cethus does things peacefully.)
The red-scaled Dragon Born frowned after hearing Cethus' reply. Her Excellency, Lady Augustina, was beloved by everyone residing in the territories under the Crystal Palace because she was fair and righteous.
Although she wasn't easy to anger, people didn't dare cross her bottom line.
"Your name is Cethus?" the red-scaled Dragon Born frowned. "Are you Lady Augustina's failure of a grandson, the one who only managed to become a Royal Guard because his other Grandma pulled some strings?"
The red-scaled Dragon Born snorted as he looked at Cethus with a sneer.
"I've heard a lot about you," the red-scaled Dragon Born stated. "Not only are you a failure, but you also abuse your authority and power to get what you want. You are the scummiest Dragon Born that I've ever heard of."
"But you have heard of me," Cethus replied. "It just shows that I'm not a nobody like you."
Cethus then smiled as if making the red-scaled Dragon Born know that both of them weren't on the same level. It wasn't his fault that he was born as the grandson of two powerful Dragon Borns who stood at the Apex of Karshvar Draconis and the Crystal Palace.
Since his family was awesome, it was only natural for him to bask in their awesomeness.
"You…," the red-scaled Dragon Born was about to smack the arrogant prick's face when he felt a powerful presence in the sky above his head.
"It has been a while since you last visited me, Grandson of mine," a Dragon Born with black scales said in an amused tone. "I thought you'd already forgotten about me."
Cethus smiled from ear to ear as he looked up at his grandma, who acted as the Guardian and Steward, of the Crystal Palace.
"How could I possibly forget you, Grandma?" Cethus replied. "I just finished my Ranker breakthrough, and the first one I wanted to inform about it was none other than you."
"Oh, my! How filial you are. You mean Faustina didn't know that you're already a Ranker?"
"Not yet, Grandma. I came to see you first."
"Good child, now come," Lady Augustina made a gesture for Cethus to fly towards her side. "Guard Captain, the next time my grandson visits me, make sure to give him a proper welcome, okay?"
"Y-Yes! Your Excellency!" The red-scaled Dragon Born immediately saluted and promised Lady Augustina that he would welcome Cethus with open arms the next time he visited their Stronghold.
Cethus made sure to give the Guard Captain a sidelong glance for the latter to see the smug look on his face.
Since their Supreme had personally come to welcome Cethus, the red-scaled Dragon Born could only smile back, with beads of sweat threatening to fall from his forehead.
He made sure to remember what Cethus looked like to ensure that he wouldn't be punished in the future.
It was not only the Guard Captain that gave Cethus a long and hard look. All the Guards made sure to imprint the spoiled Dragon Born's face into their memory so that in the future, they could score some brownie points and get on good terms with him.
When Cethus and Augustina left the Stronghold and could no longer be seen, the Guard Captain breathed a sigh of relief.
If their Steward arrived just five seconds late, his fist would have definitely smacked Cethus' face, which would have landed him in big trouble.
"Captain, you got lucky," one of the guards said.
"Y-Yeah," the red-scaled Dragon Born replied as he wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. "That was a close call."
Meanwhile, high above the sky, Lady Augustina looked at her grandson with a critical gaze as they flew side by side together.
"Faustina has told me everything," Lady Augustina said. "But I want to hear it from your own lips. Are you really a Guild Member of that Mythical Guild, Heaven's Gate?"
"Um? How did Grandma Faustina know that I'm a member of Heaven's Gate?" Cethus asked back in surprise. "I told her that I was a member of the guild Ars Goetia."
Lady Augustina snorted. "Do you think my twin sister is a fool? She's that no-good Dragon King's right-hand woman. If anything important happens in Karhsvar Draconis, she is one of the first Dragon Borns to know about it. So, why don't you come clean, and tell me everything about that Guild Master of yours? I've heard from Aur and Piccoro that he has a special relationship with someone we know."
Cethus might not be the brightest Dragon Born in Karshvar Draconis, but he wasn't stupid. He had already guessed the identity of the Crystal Dragon that had appeared in the Outer Reaches long ago, and it wasn't that hard to understand what his Grandma was hinting at.
The corner of Cethus' lips rose briefly, thinking that he sure underestimated how close his two grandmothers were with each other.
Although the two of them were on two opposing sides, they still shared important information with each other, especially when it came to matters related to him.
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